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Homeowners in subdivisions with reasonable guidelines need not give up hope. After years of experimenting with different approaches, I’ve finally come up with a set of plants that I like for use in the “nuisance strip” – that area between the curb and the sidewalk for which the homeowner is responsible for maintaining, but which typically does not have automatic sprinklers.
It all began some 20 years ago with St. Augustine grass ( Stenotaphrum secundatum) as it came with the house, and for several years it worked out just fine. Then it began to lose ground to the native Sensitive Briar (Mimosa roemeriana) which came up through the St. Augustine’s thick mass of leaves. Possibly I should have let the Sensitive Briar take over, as it forms a thick mat of its own, has beautiful pink flowers in the spring and early summer, and has interesting foliage which collapses when you touch it, giving rise to the name “sensitive.”
The next plant used was Gulf Muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris) which actually needs more water than some of those noted here (“medium” instead of “low”). Gulf Muhly is sometimes marketed as Pink Muhly, because of its flowers in the fall. Problem was, one of the next door neighbors has a couple of Shumard Oak trees (Quercus shumardii) which are deciduous, and the lovely falling leaves were more than a nuisance as they became entangled in the Muhly and spoiled the effect of the wispy flower heads.
After the Gulf Muhly, the nuisance strip hosted a couple of low water need ground covers which thrived without much supplemental watering. Silver Ponyfoot (Dichondra argentea) has small horseshoe shaped leaves that appear to be either green or silver, depending on how the light hits them, and which lay low on the ground. It also has “medium” water needs, with well drained soil, and either sun or partial shade. It is native from West Texas through New Mexico to Arizona, so it does not need any supplemental watering in the Central Texas area. Despite that, it will trail over and down any slopes, including the curb, which causes it to run afoul of my Home Owners’ Association guidelines. The solution, trimming it to stay well within the confines of the curb, was less aesthetically satisfying than the softer, trailing over the curb problem, so it too passed.
Gregg’s Dalea (Dalea greggii) provides small but attractive flowers, which also attract butterflies and other nectar feeding insects. On the other hand, it dies back during the winter, and is prone to collect Shumard Red Oak leaves in its tangled stems. And it also has a similar trailing over the curb problem. In the long run, neither of these plants was the right answer for this particular location. However, they might work well in someone else’s nuisance strip.
Finally, the right combination of plants seems to have been hit upon – native plants that are perennials, require little water, and bloom throughout much of the year. One of these, Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium leucophylum), is often considered difficult to cultivate in the garden, and typically dies from overwatering. My own experience has been that these plants bloom profusely every time they get some rain, but that tap water has little positive effect. They can be either mounding or trailing, and I have had to trim them from time to time to keep them from trailing over the curb and into the street. They tend to get a bit woody, so it also helps to prune severely for new growth to occur. But they also tend to create new plants to take over as the older ones die off, so they will stay in the nuisance strip as long as they don’t become a nuisance themselves.
Finally, the one flower that seems to fit the bill for all seasons, and which will stay on as the primary plant to make the nuisance strip a nice: Four Nerve Daisy (Tetraneuris scaposa). This happy yellow flower was previously known as Hymenoxys, but should be identifiable at local nurseries that carry native Texas plants. This plant will bloom throughout the year if the winter is mild, although the bloom period is typically listed as March through October. This plant will also spread gradually and reseed itself, so that there is no need to replant each year. Low maintenance, low water needs, and blooms throughout most of the year make this an ideal Texas native plant for your NICE* strip.
* By the way, NICE stands for Natives Improve and Conserve Environments. NICE Native Plant Partners is a program that the Society sponsors to help make natives more accessible to homeowners. Read more about it.
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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: rkamper
